


take her by the hand

by heyHEYOhSorry



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 03:25:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14035161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyHEYOhSorry/pseuds/heyHEYOhSorry
Summary: This thing between her and Iris had seemed easier, when no one knew.





	take her by the hand

 

 

The news broke like a Californian summer storm.

Cisco Ramon is too smart and too dedicated to his friends to not realize something was different with her. Despite Caitlin’s protests that everything was fine, Cisco wouldn’t let Caitlin’s new behavior drop.

Perhaps if Caitlin never had lied about Killer Frost or her powers, Cisco wouldn’t have invaded Caitlin’s privacy. Perhaps he wouldn’t have used his emergency key to let himself into her apartment. And maybe he would have never caught Caitlin wrapped up in bed around a naked Iris West.

But she did, and he does. And after that the secret affair, or fuck-buddy thing that she and Iris had kept quiet isn’t a secret any longer.

 

It isn’t often that it rains in Central City but it’s raining today. The rain and the storm warning prohibit them from drinking their coffee outside on the Jitter’s patio. Instead, Caitlin and Iris sit inside. It’s a nice room. They pick a cute alcove complete with two large armchairs, a comfy red couch, and a coffee table.

They are seated on the couch together, not fairly close to one another, but Iris isn’t sitting in the chair, so Caitlin takes that to mean something. They sip on their coffee in silence. Well, Caitlin drinks while Iris stares into her mug swirling her spoon around. Caitlin casts side-glances at Iris but she doesn’t look sad, angry, just a little worn-out. Caitlin finds no _need_ to strike up conversation. She’s always been comfortable in the silence, Iris is the one who likes to tell stories, so if Iris is okay, Caitlin is too.

Caitlin only notices the extent of Iris’s tiredness, when she hears Iris yawn for the third time in a row.

“Do you mind?” Iris asks, already resting her head on Caitlin’s shoulder.  She shakes her head no but the pitter-patter of the raindrops has lulled Iris to sleep.

Caitlin could never fall asleep in a place like this. The customers and the espresso machines make too much noise. But it’s nice to have Iris resting on her shoulder. They don’t get to be like this often. Their relationship hasn’t progressed passed coffee dates, make-outs, and hook-ups. They never did cuddling or dinners, nothing that inches close to a real date that would make them reflect on what was going on between them.

Slowly Caitlin runs her hands through Iris’s hair. She’s temped to place a soft kiss on her forehead, but she remembers that she’s still not sure where they stand. She doesn’t dwell on the uncertainties, instead she clears her mind and soaks in the silence.

There should be a hundred things racing through her head. She should be questioning what they are, and how they will move on. She should be getting used to the idea that whatever they were could be ending, or how their friend group is going to stay together. But surprisingly her mind is calm.

As much as Caitlin would like, they can’t stay here forever. Team Flash has drills they need to run, meta-humans to track down. If both of them aren’t present, it’ll only create more questions they’ll have to eventually face. After one last stroke through her hair, Caitlin wakes her with a gentle shake.

 

They move through the halls of STAR Lab unhurriedly. More than once Iris’s hand has lightly brushed hers, each time making Caitlin’s stomach somersault. It’s nothing new the way one touch by Iris West can make Caitlin feel lightheaded and enamored. It’s a feeling that floods her body until they round the corner to the Cortex.

The sight of the doors shakes Caitlin out her haze and firmly brings her back to reality. She reaches out and grabs Iris’s wrist, stopping them in the middle of the hallway.

“What’s the matter?” Iris says as she turns around to face Caitlin. Caitlin looks down at the ground.

“We shouldn’t walk in together.” They’re only five words but the meaning behind the words are heavy. Rationally, if she and Iris aren’t going to continue or be whatever they are, they shouldn’t walk in like a pair. It’s logical. Still she hates the knot in her stomach when she looks up to see the disappointment on Iris’s face. It’s fleeting but it’s there.

“I wouldn’t mind if we walk in together.” Iris replies gently.

It’s not what Caitlin had expected. She hasn’t been prepared to make the final call about this thing, about them.

And that’s what Iris was doing, her eyes were uncertain and her hands are fidgeting, but she hadn’t taken it back. Iris was putting herself out there.

Caitlin had never imagined that Iris would be asking to be with her.

But then again, Caitlin was the one with the fucked-up mommy issues. And she was the one with a fear of commitment ever since she lost Ronnie, found Ronnie, and lost him again. Even worse, Caitlin was the one who had moaned when Iris palmed her breast, had come on Iris’s fingers, had licked Iris’s sex, but had looked away when Iris tried to kiss her.

Her hesitation had less to do with her newly discovered attraction, and more to do with the constrictions she had made. Even before Ronnie, Caitlin had saw herself as too clinical, too sensible, to fall in love. After him, Caitlin had labeled herself with too convoluted, too damaged, to try again. She had needed her moments with Iris to be just that, moments.

And yet, when Cisco had stood shocked in her bedroom doorway Caitlin hadn’t tried to hide Iris. She wasn’t ashamed or scared that now people would know. If anything, she had breathed a sigh of relief. And maybe that should have been her clue that maybe she and Iris had something more than stolen moments.

Caitlin doesn’t reply to Iris with words. Instead she takes Iris’s bag and throws it over her shoulder. She takes Iris’s left hand in her right, and leads her into the Cortex.

 

Wells chastises them for being late when they walk in, but Caitlin doesn’t pay him any attention. She is fixated on the heat of Iris’s body near hers, and the warmth in Iris’s eyes when she looks up at her. Iris gives Wells a quick apology before leading Caitlin to the lab. Caitlin is slightly aware of the eyes that follow them but in true Iris West fashion she ignores the looks and tunes out the whispers.

Iris sits crossed legged in her chair, searching the web for leads on strange activity in Central City. While Caitlin tries to focus on splitting DNA and pipetting, but it’s hard to concentrate when she feels occasional looks from the girl next to her.

“I can feel you looking at me.” Caitlin whispers, turning to catch Iris in the act.

Iris giggles and smiles back.

“Says the woman who watches me as I sleep.” Iris grins leaning forward, “ I can’t help it. You put me in a joyous mood.”

“Sap.” Caitlin says with a smirk. Which only makes Iris laugh again. Caitlin doesn’t know what she was so afraid of. Caitlin reached out and cupped the back of Iris’s neck, pulling her closer, lips soft and tender as she tried to convey joy and ask for forgiveness in one kiss. It’s meant to be quick, but Iris slips in her tongue and licks the inside of Caitlin’s mouth.

The moan that originates is guttural, exasperated by the brush of Iris’s breast against hers. Caitlin grasps Iris’s hair harder. It’s the tiny voice reminding her they’re is STAR Labs, that stops Caitlin from slipping her hands under Iris’s tight little skirt and fingering her right then.

“Now who’s the sap.” Iris breathes, as they pull her way. Her cheeks are flush as she places a kiss on Caitlin’s cheek.

From the way Iris looks at her, she has probably figured out that Caitlin is nothing but a pile of goo under her frosty exterior. Caitlin doesn’t even care. She kisses Iris one more time, a small nibble on her bottom lip, before taking Iris’s hand into hers.

It’s a bit of a ridiculous position, because now Caitlin has to do her entire experiment with one hand. It certainly isn’t rational. Still, it’s worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> Come check me out on tumblr @heyHEYOhSorry


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